Once again I will open by reminding you that the line is in potential danger and urge you to help out by getting a 2013 subscription in order to assure the future or MOTUC. Remember you can always sell off anything you don't want but no subs equals no figures at all!

Subscribing is also the only way to be sure of getting the subscription exclusive figures, be it a individual character or just a variant with cool stuff. Case in point Preternia Disguise He-Man.

This figure is based on a look He-Man wore in the vintage mini-comic "The Powers of Grayskull: The Legend Begins". This was the last mini-comic produced in the vintage line though it was meant to be part one of three. The new mini-comics coming this year are a retelling of that story changed to fit into the Classics' bio continuity and He-Man again wears the costume. Either way it was because he had traveled back in time to Preternia and needed to disguise himself so his presence would not disrupt history too much.

I don't know if Mattel was planning to release a figure in this costume in the planned but not launched Powers of Grayskull line but he has made his way into the Classics line. PD He-Man comes in the standard MOTUC blister card package, though his bubble does not feature the Powers of Grayskull logo sticker. (I have seen a couple on e-bay that have the sticker but these must have been put on by the sellers from the sticker sheet) The back of the box shows off other figures in the line, all characters who were around in Preternia times, and offers a bio for the character.

I really don't have much to say about this bio. Or rather what I have to say I will cover when I review the whole new mini-comic story. Most of what I want to talk about are the changes made from the original mini-comic to the new one. For example in the original story Sorceress forbade He-Man from interfering and thus altering history until Skeletor showed up and then he had to get involved in order to stop him from messing things up. In the new one, they don't seem to care about changing the past. Again I'll go into more detail when I review the comics. On to the figure itself.

This version of He-Man, as you may suspect, uses the standard buck for pretty much his whole body. He does feature the two short wristbands instead of the one long bracer on the standard He-Man though. His head is a new tool as the mask is sculpted and not just painted on. Those few bangs are all the hair he has. The hood is a separate piece, but not meant to come off. While his outfit is meant to be one long robe, his top is a separate, and removable, piece allowing him to turn at the waist. It does slightly interfere with the ab crunch and on the same note the "skirt" part (kilt?) while slit up the sides to allow more movement, still is somewhat restricting. The only real issue is he can't really sit on a beast mount very well.

He includes three accessories. The first is his Power Sword. All He-Man figures should come with the Power Sword. It's the same two tone silver sword we've seen before, but like Prince Adam there is no holster slot on the figure so he can't hold it when holding his two other accessories that you're probably going to want to display him with. For me the solution was to give the sword to Battle Armor He-Man who didn't include one!

PD He-Man also comes with one B.F.G.! This is modeled after the gun from the vintage Bionatops. Or rather one of them. Looking at the artwork I can see how someone might think there is one central gun supported by the two horns, and that is how it is portrayed in the new mini-comic, however as seen on the toy it is actually two guns one blaster and one Gatling gun style. (Sadly my Bionatops is missing his guns -but hey he's really rare it took me years to get one at all) the gun can fit in either hand but is a bit heavy and can throw off his balance when held up. He has to lean back a bit to level the blaster at anyone, but let's face it a gun that big in real life would be heavy and bulky.

Saving the best for last, Preternia Disguise He-Man includes the Cosmic Key! This is just plain awesome! The design is almost spot on movie accurate. Really the main difference is the bottom handle and in the film the device had the big red activation button. Still this is about 95% film accurate and close enough! Especially when seen next to the vintage Cosmic Key accessory that came with Gwildor and looked nothing like the film version. The prongs have a silver vac metal finish and they actually can rotate. This is without a doubt the coolest accessory in the line and makes the figure worth getting all on it's own!

While Preternia Disguise He-Man may not be the most fan demanded variant that's part of what makes him a great figure to have as an exclusive. A good extra for the most hard core collectors, but one casual fans aren't begging for. Except of course for that awesome Cosmic Key! I think most fans will really want that.

Preternia Disguise He-Man, as a subscription exclusive, is not available anymore and won't be reissued. He actually does seem easier to find on the secondary market than Wun-Dar, though still a rarer one. Once again I say getting a sub will allow you to avoid the hard hunt in the future and will help secure the future of the line as a whole. I wish you good luck in your search, I ask you again to help keep the line alive, and as always I wish you Good Journey.

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